Three shops in Ashington have been ordered to shut their doors by magistrates after they were caught repeatedly selling thousands of pounds worth of illegal tobacco.
The closure orders have been imposed against Ashington Fruit and Veg Ltd on Woodhorn Road, M&A Mini Market Ltd and Euro Express.
It follows a lengthy investigation by trading standards officers at Northumberland County Council, after which the authority applied to North Northumbria Magistrates Court.
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Ashington Fruit and Veg will be closed for three months from January 20, while M&A Mini Market on Station Road will close for one month and Euro Express on Lintonville Terrace will close for two months.
The council say the owners of Ashington Fruit and Veg had been caught with more than £3,300 worth of tobacco, which was seized following two visits to the premises over two months.
Tobacco was found hidden in the wall and within the fruit and vegetables.
At Euro Express, £4,000 of illicit tobacco was found during three visits - including on one occasion where products were seized, only for officers to return an hour later to find it had already been restocked.
M&A Mini Markets had £1,600 worth of tobacco seized in three visits over three months.
Northumberland County Councillor, Colin Horncastle, cabinet member with responsibility for community services said: “I'm pleased that the magistrates have supported the actions of the council and in doing so agreed to impose closures to prevent the businesses from continuing to trade.
"I hope this sends out a strong and clear message, that we will not tolerate this criminal activity and there is no hiding place.
“Closing a business is not a decision we take lightly, but despite being under criminal investigation for previous offences of selling illicit tobacco, secondary raids found they were once again selling the black-market products.
"These business owners had no respect for the law, or the harm they were doing, especially to the health of the younger members of their community, and now they will pay the consequences of their illegal actions.”
“We must reduce the harm caused by the sale of tobacco and I would urge members of the public to continue reporting such activity so that we can take the necessary action.”
The council say the illegal tobacco is far from a victimless crime. The low price and easy accessibility of the products discourages existing smokers from quitting, while encouraging non-smokers such as children to try it.
Northumberland County Council has backed the Keep it Out campaign from Fresh, the regional tobacco programme.
Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director of Fresh and Balance, said: “Smoking has killed 8 million people in the UK in the last 50 years and over 113,000 people in the North East alone since the year 2000.
“1 in 2 smokers will die from smoking, whether they smoke legal or illegal tobacco, but illegal tobacco gets kids hooked and helps fuel addiction in local communities. Dealers are linked to criminality and do not care if local children buy it.
“Shops selling illegal tobacco or selling to children can now face a range of sanctions, from having lottery or alcohol licences removed, to large fines to being closed. This is more excellent work from Northumberland County Council’s trading standards to take illegal tobacco off the streets and send out a strong warning to sellers.”
All Closure Orders prohibit anyone from entering the premises except an authorised person who requires access to carry out their statutory duties.
Anyone else on the premises is committing a criminal offence which carries an unlimited fine and, or a three-month prison sentence. Anyone seen on the premises should be reported to the police immediately.
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